Super Jump, dodging, skillful gameplay and how the devs and community are painfully unaware of it

So, today we are going to talk about Super Jump. With the news that Super Jump is being replaced, I figure that this is the last chance for me to state this message.

First off, let's start with analyzing the ability by itself. When Super Jump was originally conceived, it was intended as a movement ability, as faster alternative to get to high places without wall-running (This is how most players saw it, regardless of the fact that Super Jump was in the game first) . This is the way it was shown in the Excalibur Profile video, and also the way most players view it. However, Super Jump has actually become something completely different altogether as a result of emergent gameplay.

Players like to think that Super Jump was made obsolete by the addition of aerial melee, but in reality, its movement potential was ruined a long long time ago. The moment people discovered slingshotting and infinite wall-running, there was already no reason to use Super Jump for travelling. So that means it's completely useless and should have been removed a long time ago right?

No, as players have found another use for Super Jump that is possibly more useful. Super Jump is no longer a mobility ability, it is a maneuverability ability. What does that mean? It means that it is used for moving while inside combat, for dodging and escaping from crowds. Super Jump is actually the only way that space ninjas can actually dodge like a ninja in this game. It casts instantly and has no animation delay (unlike everything else in this game, including just simply jumping), which means that it cannot be interrupted. It also goes about the perfect height for players to get a few moments of breathing room to quickly think of a new plan without making them feel like they are stuck in the air forever. The additional height allows players to attempt to clear the crowd with a melee slam attack or ability, without risking being knocked down in the air by a grapple with normal jumping. What's even stranger is that the devs actually catered to this use of Super Jump with the first round of Excalibur changes by giving it invisibility, further increasing its reliability. However, it seems that players weren't willing to think for just a second and have pressure the devs into removing the ability altogether because they couldn't figure out how to use it.

For a second though, let's consider what should be done if Super Jump wasn't going to be removed. How could it be changed to making the dodging aspect more obvious and useful? After a few hours of idle thinking I came up with this list:

1. Super jump can be cast while knocked down. This obviously increases the maneuverability aspect even more, while also adding the skill-based way to counter knockdowns that players so desperately wanted.

2. Removes status effects when cast. In many other games (i.e. Loadout), dodging is used to put out fires and other debuffs. Adding this to Super Jump would make its utility much more obvious and give players a reason to regularly use it.

3. Refills stamina bar when cast. Considering how big of a liability stamina is to reliable melee combat, this change would further emphasize Excalibur's melee role and give players another reason to use Super Jump more.

4. Melee slam (the wide radius knockdown) and jump attacks (the small radius of high damage) get triple range when cast from Super Jump. Right now, players can only really clear crowds with slam attacks with weapons like the Orthos or Jat Kittag, making Super Jump do this regardless of melee weapon would help a lot with melee diversity as well as encouraging players to make use of Super Jump when surrounded.

5. Quality of life improvements: Abilities can be cast at any time during the jump, Super Jump automatically triggers level 3 heavy impact regardless. These should be obvious.

But obviously, that's not going to happen since the devs (and the forum lynch mob) are set on removing Super Jump. While this wouldn't be a bad thing if the benefits of Super Jump were given to all Warframes, however the way they are doing this is completely and utterly wrong.

They talk about giving all Warframes a "charge jump" ability. There is no doubt that it will be similar to the charge attacks in melee 1.0 given the devs' choice of words when describing it, as in you will have to hold down the jump button for a few seconds and release to jump higher. That completely ruins main benefit of Super Jump, which is that it can be cast instantly in reaction to situations that suddenly pop up. Super Jump does not have a delay nor can it be interrupted, unlike any other movement mechanic in the game. Not to mention that aerial melee already gives players more than enough vertical mobility. Charge jumps would be both useless and saddening to former Excalibur players, whose beloved dodging ability has been twisted and ruined.

Instead, what they should do is improve the dodge-rolls. Dodge-rolls are the actual regular gameplay mechanic that is analogous to Super Jump. Here is a list of things that dodge-rolls should do at the very least to be useful:

have increased distance, at least as much as Mirage's

push enemies aside when rolling

have no animation delay

give full immunity to all CC while rolling (no grapples, no slow from tar, cannot be proc'd etc.)

can be used while knocked down to recover

not cancel your current reload progress (if not allowing you to reload while rolling)

Maybe players will actually bind rolling to a separate button with these changes. This might seem a bit OP at first, but it is essential to actually let players know that rolling is a thing. So many players don't bother to roll that the devs have actually removed some of its function. You can no longer dodge grapples while rolling. I dread the day they remove the ability to roll altogether when players complain about laser doors being OP without realizing that they have the tools to bypass them completely, leading the devs to add yet another way to shut down laser doors, rendering rolling obsolete.

Now get on the forums and spam those people who complain about lack of skill-based gameplay while actively fighting against the few methods that exist in the game.

Super Jump was one of the last of such.

Edit:Just so everyone is clear on the main point of this blog post: 1. CHARGE JUMPS ARE AN INADEQUATE REPLACEMENT FOR SUPER JUMP. 2. WE NEED DODGING MECHANICS IN THE GAME.